News

CAS protests against Toro de la Vega in Madrid

On Saturday 13th of September, CAS International protested in the Spanish capital of Madrid against the cruel event el Toro de la Vega.Every year in September a bull is killed by hundreds of men on horses and by feet, stabbed to death with lances. This year bull Elegido (which means ‘the chosen one’) is the victim of el Toro de la Vega.

The protest was organized by PACMA and supported by CAS International and HSI. More than 45,000 people from all over Spain protested, together with us, against this tradition. The participation increased strongly in the course of just one year, in 2013 10,000 people joined our protest. During the manifestation, the impressive action ‘Rompe una Lanza’ (break a lance) took place: hundreds of lances were broken. These lances symbolize the weapons that are used to kill the bull.

Marius Kolff, director of CAS, attended the protest and walked at the front, behind the headbanner, together with several famous Spaniards who wanted to show their aversion towards el Toro de la Vega. Passers-by from different generations applauded the large manifestation coursing through the streets of Madrid.

Once arrived at the offices of the biggest political parties of Spain, the participants of the protest called proclamations like “this is the last year” and “we are all Elegido”.

On September 16, Elegido was killed in Tordesillas. 200 activists tried to stop the event and the death of the bull. They were taken away by the police and some of the activists were injured because defenders of el Toro de la Vega hit them or threw stones at them. Ruth Toledano, a Spanish journalist of the news website El Diario, was beaten while doing her work. On several television channels journalists state that they are being thwarted to do their work by inhabitants of Tordesillas.

You may watch the footage of the death of Elegido. PACMA has documented the killing of the bull. In the meantime, the European Union is investigating whether Toro the la Vega is violating European legislation, after PACMA filed a charge against the event.

CAS International will continue to travel to Spain to protest against Toro de la Vega if necessary. We will do everything we can to abolish Toro de la Vega, in collaboration with our sister organizations in Spain. We want to thank all the people that support our work.